Monday, 29 September 2008

This is Norm, at Motocycho, and his mates' dirt track club. They're in Vancouver.

'I gots to admit I’m tired of how all things like sickle racin’ seemed to have gotten out of reach for the common guy! Who can afford the latest model MX, Trials, Enduro etc... when you got to feed the kids and pay the mortgage. What happened to the good ol’ days when you raced what you road with nuthin more than some work boots and a jean jacket?? Well the Scorpion Flattrack Club have brought back the golden years of racin’. With stripped down street bikes (mostly Honda 350s), some great looking jean vests and metal flake helmets, they have put the FUN back in the word Flat Tracking!' Spiceman

See more at http://ratbike.org/motorcycho/scorpions/www.myspace.com/motorcychowww.motorcycho.com

Sunday, 28 September 2008

The likelihood of anyone a) Being into the Masonics (except Dave SKooter Farm) or b) Being in Antwerp, Belgium in three days time is minimal, but you never know. If you are go and see this band. They're brilliant. A three-piece made up of British garage punk royalty. The lead singer is the hardest looking ever. Forget Slipknot or Metallica or any of those others chimps. Without trying Mick Hampshire leaches an air of East End violence. And he used to be in the Milkshakes. John Gibbs on bass is equally menacing. Bruce on drums lets the side down by being a great confused uncle of a smiley bloke. Fantastic drummer though.

The seller's caps, not ours. Looks great. Four days to go, no bidders. Let us know if a Sideburner buys it.

SORRY TO ANYONE WATCHING THIS BIKE E-BAY SAID I HAD LISTED IT IN THE WRONG CATAGORY (AH WELL) ANYWAY ITS A XS650 YAMAHA FLATTRACK (DIRTTRACK) RACING BIKE, I DONT KNOW THAT MUCH ABOUT IT AS I BOUGHT IT FROM AN AUTOJUMBLE SOME TIME BACK THE CHAP I BOUGHT IT OFF SAID IT WAS IMPORTED BY A RIDER FROM AMERICA BUT I DON'T KNOW HOW TRUE THAT IS BUT THE BIKE LOOKS THE REAL DEAL. THE GEARCHANGE HAS BEEN SWAPPED TO THE RIGHT HAND SIDE AND LOOKS A PROFESSIONAL JOB THE TANK IS ALLOY AND THE SEAT IS GLASSFIBER. I PUT NEW PISTON RINGS IN LAST YEAR AND NEW CAMSHAFT BEARINGS AND REFACED THE VALVES. THE IGNITION IS ELECTRONIC AND RUNS OFF A TOTAL LOSS BATTERY. THE TYRES ARE GENUINE FLATTRACK TYRES AND HAVE LOADS OF LIFE IN THEM. THE BIKE COULD DO WITH A RESPRAY. ANY QUESTIONS PLEASE ASK.

This is Adam Thomas with his dad's very original first generation Honda FTR. Honda still make FTR's for the home market, but they don't have the right frame (according to Adam's pa, Randall). Adam turned up earlier in the year and flew in his first ever bike race. Till he broke his collarbone. 'The last we'll see of him,' we thought. Wrong. As soon as he mended he was back out on his dad's bike. Lionheart.

Saturday, 27 September 2008

Scroll back a bit to see Aldana flying at Peoria. This is Dustin Crow. I know which bike I'd rather land on. The UK short trackers are doing their second annual wheel-buckling, exhaust-flattening TT at King's Lynn next Saturday. It fills half the grid with dread. Bikes were getting demolished last year. And Dave Selby broke his collarbone without even coming off his bike, right in front of me. Class.This is Richard May on the CCM. It survived.

This cool ambulance turned up. Some people liked it so much they chewed dirt so they could have a look inside. This is Colin and his Wood Rotax pre-broken wrist. We've been told Chris Carr is going to race Col's bike when he visits England.This is Dave's tail before a crashAnd after. You can buy Sideburn stickers too. (either side of the skull and X bones). They don't make you crash. Go to www.sideburnmagazine.com/SHOP%20x.html

What is there not to love about this photo? Don Castro on one of the most bad-tempered flat trackers of all time, the 750 H2, and he's looking like one of the MC5. His boots are lace-ups, keep em nice an' tight. He's wearing his old Yam leathers. In the background is some Dodge Hauler. My wife's got a pink ringer T-shirt just like Don's. And look at the fella taking a drink of Tab from his cup. White jeans and a windcheater - a great look. I could look at this photo all day.

Just for people new to blogs, if you click a label at the bottom, like Don's name. It'll take you to all Sideburn's other posts relating to Don. Apologies for teaching any grandmothers to suck eggs.

* We think

This was taken from http://instanttractiondeluxe.blogspot.com.We don't know where he got it from.

‘Here is a picture from a scrapbook I made when I was 10 years old in 1974....This shot of Dave Aldana at the Peoria TT, was on the front cover of Motorcycle News and even back then caught my imagination enough to cut it out, stick it in my scrapbook and then keep it for 34 years!’

I bought about 40 records (all vinyl) by Thee Headcoats back in early-1990s (mainly for Bad Records near the station in Leeds). I listened to them so much I got sick of them. Dug some back out and remembered why I loved them so much. GI

"We have a love for vintage racing Harley Davidson’s as well as riding our motorcycles on the roads, we have developed our products to combine both interests into a road going vintage style racer to allow you to experience the thrills of a 1915 board track racer with the convenience of a modern motor and braking.

"The Harley Davidson Evolution Sportster motor is an ideal power plant for our machines, being of unit construction and having plenty of power with endless tuning options, we chose the Sportster motor over it's larger capacity counterparts for all these reasons along with the fact of it's lengthy use in motor racing.

"The products we supply allow you to build a bike to any specification you wish. Our frames will house any Evolution Sportster motor between the years of 1986 and 2003, these motors being rigid mounted keep the bike looking clean and functional. You can build a tight ,fast reliable bike using an 883 motor and a one colour paint scheme and keep it at the lower end of the price scale or go full out with a brand new S&S power plant and create a lightweight tyre splitter from hell. If you prefer to ride more than build, why not let us build your bike for you at our workshops? we can supply a donor vehicle or crate motor and build you a Thomas- Harvey motorcycle using our own unique parts combined with the best after market components and provide the machine ready to ride. All our frames are built using laser cut components and are constructed in house by our coded welders and are fully TIG welded."www.thomas-harvey.com

Hey Gary-Popped over to my mate Richard Marsh over in Lonburton, Dorset to see how he's getting on with my replacement tank and seat unit for my 70's Yam 'tracker. Here's the new alloy tank along with my original Champion glass unit, the beast of a machine (an English Wheel - GI) he hand rolls the pattern thru to get the shape before he tigs it up. There's also couple of CCM tanks ready for finishing. The stuff he does is awesome, and now he has a pattern for Champion tanks, so happy to pass on any orders....I've dropped my bike off to have the seat unit measured up, so I'll post some pics when it's done.Keep it real, Ben Charlton

Sideburn says: We spoke to Ben about how people could get orders to Richard Marsh and it seems like you have to roll your trouser leg up and do a funny handshake to even be considered by this semi-retired artisan. Best bet is to leave a comment on this post and wait for Ben's response.

125 GP rider Randy KrumenacherNederlander Hendrik MulderBritish superstar Tim Greig was facing the tough task of fighting off the Jansen’s and others who all had a realistic chance of snatching his second place in the championship! At the same time Greig was the only con-tender who could still beat Marco Belli to the overall victory. And with Belli unable to defend due to other rac-ing duties in England it promised to be an exciting day! The rider field was further boosted with a guest ap-pearance of 125 GP star Randy Krummenacher who followed the example of many successful road racers to practice on the dirt tracks!Over 1000 spectators (WOW! - SB) came to watch the flat track show on the asymmetrical 700m track in the Lübbenauer Spreewald! One of the highlights was the rider presentation animated by a cheerful marching band in traditional style!With all the qualification wins going to different riders, an exciting main event was about to start! With the track suffering a little under the hard racing the Dutch grass track aces felt right at home and there was just no catching them! Bert Bijkstra crossed the line first on his Gulf Honda, his victory was well deserved after his injury sustained in the first round in Güstrow earlier in the season. Wiemer Borger came second on his Brandoil KTM closely followed by a charging Hendrik Mulder on the borrowed Pol-Suzuki. Tim Greig rode his best race of the season bringing his ASR Honda home fourth, successfully resisting the pressure from his direct championship contenders and securing his second place overall! Randy Krummenacher got better and better with each lap and was charging hard in spectacular style to nearly catch Mick Jansen! Marco Belli can be grateful to the Dutch trio who defended his lead and is crowned International Mefo Sport Flat track Champion 2008!

Marco Belli: "First I want to thank The Dutch Brothers & Mefo for letting this happen; I had the chance to race on totally different tracks, each amazing and in a great location. Thanks also to CCM for giving me the best package to race with… It’s fantastic winning the championship, and I can’t wait to mount the number one plate on my bike!!! Then I'll have to defend it, which sometimes is harder, but I'll try to keep it, for sure… so see you next year!"

When you're next in Amsterdam next, don't bother with the Anne Frank house, or the Red Light District, instead make a bee line for 'CITO' on the Ferdinandbol Straat - around the corner from the Heineken Museum. It's an Aladdin's cave of obscure Euro scooter & bicycle parts from the 1950s - 80s, all still in original sun faded packaging. It's run by an 88-year-old granny & her 69-year-old daughter. If they knew about Ebay, they'd be milionaires, but I doubt they even know what a computer is. You don't want to be going there via a coffee shop session, you're liable to get carried away. I went sober & came away with just a BMX number plate, an original AGV bubble visor (in blue) for my jet helmet (they had a stack of about 20) & Raleigh sweat-bands.BPPS opening times are rather sporadic.

Jason, built the Triumph in issue 1, blah, blah. Anyway, he's mental. He bought a C&J Rotax and had it shipped in double-quick time so he could race at Buxton. Then he sent this email.

'I know, I know, you told me not to make it nice, just practice riding, you said and I may of mumbled something that sounded like agreement, but I can honestly say that this rehash started out as a repair of the throttle cable, which ended some hours later with a pile of motorbike on the garage floor. Anyhow....

After my first foray at racing I quickly came to the conclusion that I needed to go faster and not be at the back all of the time, I don't know if others have noticed this too but all of the winners were at the front and that's no coincidence. Seeing motorcycle particles all over the floor, it all became obvious as to why I'd been at the back of the pack, the bike just wasn't shiny enough. And there was me, misguided in thinking it was my lack of talent.

Now it's more shiny, however I can smell the fear from my fellow competitors and I see the Big Gun has been wheeled out for Scunthorpe. Well I have a cunning plan and when Mr UPS turns up, all will be in place for victory.